Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Eminently Quotable | BuzzFlash: "'Seven blunders of the world that lead to violence: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principle.'-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)"

Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: Sanity on Iraq: "We may be approaching a moment a little similar to the moment when Barry Goldwater was tasked to go to Nixon in 1974 and tell him it was over and he should resign. No, I don't mean Bush will quit if the elections are a disaster for the Rove strategy of 'divide and terrify'. I mean that the reality-based members of the Republican establishment, represented by James Baker, will step in and tell Bush he cannot stay in denial any longer about Iraq. All the options are grim - but the grimmest of all is the prospect of Rumsfeld, Cheney and Rove continuing their deranged idea that their 'strategy' has been anything but a shambles. That's why it's so important that the GOP is given a drubbing next week. It will provide an opening for sanity. There are enough sane Republicans and patriotic Democrats to make the tough decisions now needed..."

Attytood: No sex, please: You're 20-somethings: "As the GOP asked recently, what are the stakes in the Nov. 7 election? Well, one complaint you hear a lot about the current Republican regime is that they want to regulate what people do in the bedroom. Sometimes that sounds like political hyberbole, until you read something like this: The Bush administration is spending millions in an effort to stop unmarried people in their 20s from, well, doing the wild thing:

The federal government's 'no sex without marriage' message isn't just for kids anymore..."

An internal ABC Radio Networks memo obtained by Media Matters for America, originally from a listener to The Peter B. Collins Show, indicates that nearly 100 ABC advertisers insist that their commercials be blacked out on Air America Radio affiliates. According to the memo, the adverstisers insist that 'NONE of their commercials air during AIR AMERICA programming.' Among the advertisers listed are Bank of America, Exxon Mobil, Federal Express, General Electric, McDonald's, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and the U.S. Navy."

As Chris Bowers points out at MyDD, as many as 60 House races are still "absolutely in flux" -- i.e. within single digits, and likely to be decided by a very slim margin.

Bowers rightly hammers home the importance of "unrelenting activism" and making sure that the Democratic lead isn't gobbled up by the GOP's always effective get-out-the-vote ground game over the next eight days. He provides a helpful list of the kinds of roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-busy things anyone who cares about the future of this country can and should do between today and next Tuesday to ensure that those razor slim margins tilt Democratic..."

Money trails lead to Bush judges | Salon News: "Oct. 31, 2006 | At least two dozen federal judges appointed by President Bush since 2001 made political contributions to key Republicans or to the president himself while under consideration for their judgeships, government records show. A four-month investigation of Bush-appointed judges by the Center for Investigative Reporting reveals that six appellate court judges and 18 district court judges contributed a total of more than $44,000 to politicians who were influential in their appointments. Some gave money directly to Bush after he officially nominated them. Other judges contributed to Republican campaign committees while they were under consideration for a judgeship..."

There's a battle going on just beneath the pre-election radar that involves some of the issues you've read about recently on this blog, and it seems that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are trying to start a witch hunt against the Democratic staffers who have successfully fought back against some of the greatest idiocies of this past Congressional session.

After accusing a Democratic staffer of leaking the terrorism NIE that helped show the American public just how bad a strategic error Iraq continues to be, and revoking his clearance and smearing his name without a shred of evidence, House Republicans then announced a plan to investigate all Democratic intel staffers, including phone logs, email, and all other 'relevant' records. The staffer has signed a sworn affadavit that he had nothing to do with the leak, but in the face of such Republican perfidy, it's having little effect. These McCarthyist tactics -- and I don't use that description lightly, but this staffer was accused without any apparent evidence, on a political basis, and has been the target of physical threats and baseless vilification -- are yet another example of the shameful and harmful politicization of intelligence..."

On Twin Peaks, Sherilyn Fenn suggested a pleasure trove of erotic possibilities by using her tongue to twist a cherry stem into a nifty knot. For the last week conservative pundits have been putting their tongues to similar agile use, sucking up to Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld as if wanting to get a few last gymnastic licks in before Speaker Pelosi is sworn in. Much has been made of the 'eerie' confidence of Bush and Rove going into the midterms, but this recent charm offensive intended to keep conservative pundits from wandering off the reservation isn't a sign of vigor; these aren't the people who would normally need wooing at this late date. Yet there Bush was in a roomful of conservative talkshow hosts, including such useless loads as Mike Gallagher and Michael Medved, their very presence an affront to anyone's dignity other than Bush's..."

Monday, October 30, 2006

In the aftermath of George W Bush's re-election as president two years ago, his campaign manager, Karl Rove, amused himself and his boss with a battery-powered 'Redneck Horn'. At the touch of a dashboard button, the device would yell insults in a raucous Southern accent, providing automated road rage for 'red state' Republicans.

George W Bush and Dick Cheney face the possibility of defeat in the mid-term elections

The toy's abusive messages ranged from the relatively mild 'Slow down, dumbass!' to 'Hey, hogneck, who taught you how to drive?'; 'What the hell was that manoeuvre?'; 'Are you freaking blind?' and 'You're a goddam moron!' How they all laughed in the White House, if the Bush administration's renegade court historian, Bob Woodward, is to be believed..."

'I'm always excited to learn more about what's going on in our nation's capital, since most people in the porn industry think an Iraqi pullout is a form of safe sex.'

And the best part, the Republican party invited her to come. Who exactly invited her? Why, none other than embattled Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY) and his Nation Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)..."

Crooks and Liars: "On Face The Nation, Bob Schieffer wouldn't buy Ken Mehlman's 'lame' excuses for running a racist ad against Harold Ford when he paid for it. He called into question the notion that Republicans hold all the cards when we're talking about 'values' because actions speak LOUDER than slogans. Heading down the stretch to November 7th, this administration has shown America that 'winning' is their core value. If Bob calls you lame, well—you're just lame."

Last week, you'll remember, the RNC, headed by Ken Mehlman, was running that race-baiting 'bimbo' ad against Rep. Harold Ford (D) down in Tennessee. One of the barbs in that ad was the claim that Ford had taken political contributions from 'porn movie producers.'

But it seems there is plenty of porn movie producer money to go around..."

The Blog | Justin Frank: Politics of Intimidation | The Huffington Post: "We no longer have a two-party system. There is only one party - the Democratic Party. The other is a gang of bullies that has usurped the Republican Party's once-good name. It rules through intimidation. The list of victims includes not only Democrats like Max Cleland and Paul Wellstone, but Republicans as well.

John McCain was accused by Bush's henchmen of fathering an illegitimate black child. Soon McCain was back in the fold. Senators Warner, McCain (him again; he sure gets uppity sometimes) and Graham banded together to point out that torture is not an American value. They were told by their party bosses to leave it alone, and they shut up. Senator Olympia Snow was threatened that she'd lose her state's naval base should she oppose any Bush Supreme Court nominee, even if she strongly disagreed with his beliefs. She fell in line like all good Republicans do..."

The Blog | Leonard Shlain: Why Bush Smirks | The Huffington Post: "In observing our president's expressions over the years, I became aware of a feature of George Bush's face that revealed more about his inner self than anything issuing forth from his mouth. President Bush has a disconnect between the right side and the left side of his face. While the right side of his mouth and the corner of his right eyes portray a smile, the left side of his mouth and the corners of his left eye convey a scowl.The result is a twisted smirk that has become his trademark expression.

As a vascular surgeon who has operated on carotid arteries to the brain, I have long been interested in the opposing functions performed by the two hemispheres of the human brain. All vertebrates, from fish to fowl have a bi-lobed brain. Each half, with few exceptions, is a mirror image of the other both in appearance and function..."

The number of conservative Christians with a favorable view of the party has plummeted from 74 percent to 54 percent between 2004 and this year, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Evangelicals comprise more than one-third of GOP voters.

But analysts say it's far too soon to write off the powerful Republican-evangelical alliance that helped the party dominate in the 2004 election..."

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH): “Rumsfeld is the best thing that’s happened to the Pentagon in 25 years.” He told Stephanopoulos the buck should stop nowhere. “Let’s not take the problems in Iraq, the tough fight that we’re in there and blame it on anyone.”

Glad this guy’s in Congress and not doing something important like fixing the brakes on my truck.

On Sunday's The Chris Matthews Show, NBC Congressional Correspondent Chip Reed dropped a bomb during Matthew's "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" segment. "I'm going to be a little cryptic here," Reed began, then added, ""the Mark Foley scandal investigation is going to widen a little bit." Reed is referring to the House Ethics Committee Investigation of sexually explicit messages sent from former Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) to teenage pages over the last several years.

As both of regular readers know, I rarely post anything with profantiy in it and almost never write it myself; (I definitely am not beyond it-- I just don't do it here) but, then, some things happen that really do justify so good old-fashioned cussin'. Here's one sample that says it well:

"I've been of two minds on my fellow Ohio University alumnus and "Today" host Matt Lauer. I've called him a hack. I've patted him on the back...I read his statements surrounding Rush Limbaugh's shameful comments about Michael J. Fox's appearance in recent campaign commercials...Lauer can say things like: "Didn't Rush Limbaugh just say what a lot of people were privately thinking?"

Excuse me? So for being an ill-informed, insulting, prejudiced asshole, Limbaugh isn't instantly universally regarded as an ill-informed, insulting, prejudiced asshole, but instead as the voice of the silent majority? Apparently so, at least in Lauer's world, where making horrendously inappropriate statements that even the biggest assholes are scared to utter in public christens Limbaugh some sort of latter-day Thomas Paine. And that's just what people like Limbaugh and Lauer's "a lot of people" are: Assholes. You know, I've tried to refrain from the most inflammatory invective for some time, but I just can't let this stand, and neither can you. These are low people we're dealing with, folks. Lower than low. Lower than whale shit, in fact. People who call an opponents' staffer the equivalent of "nigger". People who play on people's prejudices to win elected office. People who cover for a child predator in order to maintain their majority. People who blame the pages, on the heels of their blaming the victims of Hurricane Katrina. And now people who accuse those suffering with terrible diseases of faking it. If those people aren't assholes, I don't know who is..."

STOP ABUSING OUR MARINES! - Wonkette: "...Notice the other browser tabs. Two actual “personal pages” that rah-rah for Bush (What’s her name, the wannabe Coulter, and Hugh Hewitt) show up just fine, as our Marine Operative confirms. But “Talking Points Memo,” which is apparently one of the “left leaning” sites one hears so much about these days, is prohibited.

Writes the Corporal: “I think that this kind of censoring is a big deal. I can understand blocking porn, music and movies, and blatantly illegal sites, but blocking sites that some higher up just doesn’t agree with is disgusting. They are blocking a huge portion of voters from information that will help them determine which side to vote for. Because of this, the only news we get is from the big corporations or conservative based sites...”"

In yet another egregious executive-power grab, President Bush asserted his right last week via signing statement to ignore a Congressional mandate that the next FEMA Director have at least five years of disaster response experience. You would think after the Brownie debacle during Katrina last year the President would be eager to appoint someone with qualifications exceeding Arabian horse show judge to lead the nations emergency response efforts. Sadly, no. Because, after all, his unchallenged powers as Decider-In-Chief are far more important than competence and keeping Americans safe. I think the only thing worse that W's judgement is Bob's tie.

Poll after poll shows the U.S. war is uppermost in the minds of the gray-haired legions as they help decide whether President George W. Bush's Republican Party will keep control of Congress in the Nov. 7 election.

'The war in Iraq; it upsets me terribly. I think we weren't told the truth,' said 85-year-old Florence Feinstein, who recently skipped her afternoon card game to discuss Medicare prescription drug benefits with Democratic congressional representatives at a retiree center in Sunrise, Florida..."

mediabistro.com: FishBowlNY: "Robert Kennedy Jr. blasted everyone from polluters to politicians to the press today during a speech today at the American Magazine Conference in Phoenix that was, by his own admission, a long, rambling, passionate digression.

'We have a negligent press in this country,' Kennedy Jr. said, one that has 'let the American people down' by not covering what he called the 'worst environmental White House we've ever had in history, bar none.'

Kennedy Jr. spoke without notes and, it seemed, without taking a breath — his voice often cracking during a spirituality-tinged monologue you might hear on a subway platform waiting for the F train..."

No. Don't take a breath. The truth must be forged in fire, so let the dragon roar.

The report Thursday comes as high crude prices this year have fueled record profits in the oil industry, triggering an outcry from consumers who were being asked to pay about $3 a gallon for gasoline in early August..."

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Taylor Marsh says: "...Harold Ford, Jr. is up against it. The Republican Party's Southern Strategy of 2006, that is. A blonde and an African American, hinting of inter-racial dating in a conservative state. What will Tennessee do? Mehlman and the Republican Party intend to help voters figure it out.

Welcome to "Ken Mehlman's cesspool," as Matthews stated today. Russert interviewed Mehlman on it, too. Tony Snow joined Matthews later, saying the Harold Ford ad was just fine with him. He and Mehlman are wrong.

The ad is playing "the race card," said Bob Herbert. He went further stating that it's what Republicans do.

I'll make it even plainer. The Republican Party is revealing the racist vein that runs through their political soul. It's scraping the bottom of the barrel in a tight race Republicans feel they simply have to win. The Republican Party won't pull the ad and they won't disown it. So, it continues to play in Tennessee, which is the way they like it. It's race baiting, period..."

The Blog | Bill Maher: New Rule: We Don't Need Drug Tests for Librarians | The Huffington Post: "...Last year, Florida's Levy County introduced drug testing for library volunteers. Whose average age is between 60 and 85. The volunteers were required to drive to another city - Gainesville - and urinate in a cup 'within hearing distance' of a laboratory monitor. That'll teach 'em for offering to work for free. 'Okay, grandma, now get pissing. And I'd better hear a nice even unbroken stream...'"

A Contentious Campaign in a Battleground State - washingtonpost.com: "...White-haired and compact, with a rich twang, Corker has a friendly rapport with voters but has proven himself over the years to be a fierce competitor. When he ran against Frist in the 1994 GOP primary, Corker was called 'pond scum' by Frist campaign manager Tom Perdue for airing an ad that suggested Frist had dodged the draft..."

By David MontgomeryWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, October 25, 2006; C01

Possibly worse than making fun of someone's disability is saying that it's imaginary. That is not to mock someone's body, but to challenge a person's guts, integrity, sanity.

To Rush Limbaugh on Monday, Michael J. Fox looked like a faker. The actor, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, has done a series of political ads supporting candidates who favor stem cell research, including Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, who is running against Republican Michael Steele for the Senate seat being vacated by Paul Sarbanes.

'He is exaggerating the effects of the disease,' Limbaugh told listeners. 'He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act. . . . This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting...

"Now people are telling me they have seen Michael J. Fox in interviews and he does appear the same way in the interviews as he does in this commercial," Limbaugh said, according to a transcript on his Web site. "All right then, I stand corrected. . . . So I will bigly, hugely admit that I was wrong, and I will apologize to Michael J. Fox, if I am wrong in characterizing his behavior on this commercial as an act."

Then Limbaugh pivoted to a different critique: "Michael J. Fox is allowing his illness to be exploited and in the process is shilling for a Democratic politician..."'

I am not speechless, but I choose not to publish my exact feelings for Mr. Limbaugh, other than to say you are ugly wrong again.

The statement, which members of the military are submitting via website, reads:

'As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq. Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home...'"

Media Matters - The press frets about Pelosi: "..Stahl is hardly alone when it comes to current-day hand-wringing over how Democrats -- and Pelosi in particular -- will respond if they recapture control of the House after 12 years in the minority. Time magazine worried that some Democrats 'would undoubtedly try to use their majority power to exact revenge for Republican overreach' in recent years. And MSNBC host Norah O'Donnell went one better, demanding Democrats go 'on the record' and 'promise' that if they seize control of the House, they would not issue subpoenas to the White House and make 'the president's final two years in office a living hell..."

Well--boo-damn-hoo. Boo-hoo. Boo-hoo. Poor little President (note the respect- "the President") might have a rough two years (compared to the cake-walk, hands-off treatment Republicans and the MSM gave Bill Clinton). The treatment Iraq, and the world, has been given by Bush is nothing short of criminal, so we're supposed to care if things get a little testy? Methinks Norah's paid Bush cultist shill status is showing. Boo-hoo.

HARRIS/HALPERIN (page 129): A number of members of the Gang of 500 are convinced that the main reason George W. Bush won the White House and Al Gore lost was that Gore’s regular press pack included the trio of Katherine “Kit” Seelye (of the New York Times), Ceci Connolly (of the Washington Post), and Sandra Sobieraj (of the Associated Press).

Simply put, that’s an astonishing statement—but it appears as a minor aside, buried deep inside a very long book. In this passage, Harris and Halperin—major press corps insiders themselves—say that some of their well-placed colleagues believe that George Bush reached the White House because of the work of just three Gore reporters! Harris and Halperin have dropped a bomb here. And as they do so, they pretend they have not..."

Apparently the Republican National Committee strategy of going after the black vote has taken a back seat (in the bus) to winning at all costs. I guess black is the new gay (and in reality, gay was the new black for a while but now black is back as the bigotry du jour of the GOP)..."

Click to get to the transcript of Cohen and Blitzer discussing the issue. I remember the infamous "Gays For Gannt" campaign in North Carolina quite well. If I were Rep. Ford, I'd seek a kind word from Colin Powell. He might be surprised at what he hears.

"Sen. Hillary Clinton doesn't really want to reduce her reelection campaign to a debate on her looks.

But if you must know, the former First Lady thinks she was a cutie in high school.

The odd discussion about her appearance came after her long-shot opponent, Republican John Spencer, suggested to the Daily News that Clinton had undergone "millions of dollars" in plastic surgery, and pointed out she used to be much less attractive..."

" The GAO released a legal opinion yesterday affirming that abstinence-only education materials must include accurate information on sexually transmitted infections and the effectiveness of condoms. To date, HHS had insisted that materials produced by abstinence grantees do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Public Health Service Act, which mandates as much..."

Rep. Alexander's Office Sued for Harassment'Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), already enmeshed in the ex-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) page scandal, now faces a new controversy as a former staffer has sued his office for sexual harassment...

Harman Subject of Federal Probe"Did a Democratic member of Congress improperly enlist the support of a major pro-Israel lobbying group to try to win a top committee assignment?'"...

Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director and founder of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the country's first and largest Iraq Veterans group, announced on Friday that IAVA has made available a web site giving the results of their analysis of who in Congress truly backs up their words on supporting the troops.

'Sure, politicians say they support the troops. But whose votes back up their rhetoric, and who's just wearing an American flag lapel pin?' asked Rieckhoff in a Huffington Post column last week. 'Now there's an easy way to know for sure. The nonprofit, nonpartisan Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America's Action Fund has tallied up every Congressional vote cast on troops' and veterans' issues for the last five years. We've crunched the numbers, and given every legislator a letter grade - the IAVA Congressional Rating...'

...No Senator in either party was given an A grade by IAVA. Thirteen Senators received a rating of A- and all of those were Democrats. A total of 23 Senators were given a B+ rating and 22 of those were Democrats as well. The other was Independent James Jeffords of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats.

Cutting to the chase -- and, perhaps more than anything I've seen in recent years, truly defining the difference between the two parties -- is that the worst grade received by a Senate Democrat was higher than the best grade granted a Republican. GOP-lite Ben Nelson (D-NE) received the lowest grade of any Democrat with a B- while Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) managed a C grade from IAVA..."

For North Carolina troops, Liddy Dole gets a D- and Richard Burr gets an F.

AMERICAblog: A blog for a great nation that deserves the truth: "...They're not just unrealistic, they're delusional across the board at the White House. Bush, Rove and Mehlman really think they can spin their way out of everything. But even GOP insiders dismissed a recent insiders conference call by Mehlman as 'happy talk.'

I'm trying to understand their message on national security. They want to scare Americans by showing pictures of the terrorists who attacked America. But, those are the terrorists still on the loose because Bush never captured them. Instead, he went to war in Iraq. According to the National Intelligence Estimate, that war in Iraq has strengthened the terrorists. Every time the GOP focuses on Bin Laden, they are highlighting their failures."

I've wondered about that, too. If they go back to the wolves commercial, I'd still ask the same question: What are the wolves still howling at the door? The Republicans have been running all three rings of the government circus for six years but all we've seen are the clowns.

The Blog | Justin Frank: Born Again - Again | The Huffington Post: "On Sunday, October 22, 2006 George W. Bush was born again - again. His re-birth was pre-recorded, but the television audience saw it happen before their very eyes between 9 and 10 AM Eastern Standard Time on ABC. He told the interviewer, also called George, that 'we've never been 'stay-the-course'' in Iraq.Had the interviewer been a psychiatrist (or a real reporter), he would have had Bush's record at hand, and would have found that Bush has regularly said we would 'stay the course' in Iraq.

What does this disclaimer mean? It means at least two things: Bush's words are meaningless to him, and that he utters them in interviews and press conferences solely because it is required of presidents and campaigners; second, it again reveals Bush's pattern of dismissing his past when events prove too uncomfortable for him. Normally he indignantly denies the past -'Kenny who?' or 'I never met with that lobbyist, Mr. Abramoff.' At other times he's sullenly indifferent, as when he said 'What's the difference?' when Diane Sawyer's probed him about not the finding the WMDs he had insisted were in Iraq..."

WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush appointed former energy executive Richard Stickler to head the federal mine safety agency on Thursday, even though the U.S. Senate rejected Stickler's nomination twice in two months.

Bush made a 'recess appointment,' taking advantage of the congressional break to put Stickler temporarily in the position, a choice he made when he appointed John Bolton the ambassador to the United Nations..."

We've been following Ken Blackwell's career for years. Our file on him is more than an inch thick. We've talked with him personally and come away impressed with his intelligence and commitment to change -- both of which are much needed in this state. But while Blackwell may still get some of our individual votes, he's lost our endorsement, for whatever it's worth. His total nastiness at the Monday debate with his opponent, Democrat Ted Strickland, has proven that he's really not the kind of man we need as our next governor. Personal attacks of dubious accuracy should have no place in a political campaign. As Strickland said, "Mr. Blackwell, you should be ashamed of yourself..."'

'He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country,' said Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Rumsfeld is 'a man whose patriotism focus, energy, drive, is exceeded by no one else I know ... quite simply, he works harder than anybody else in our building,' Pace said at a ceremony at the Southern Command (Southcom) in Miami..."

Rep. John Sweeney (R), 6/8/06: 'Zarqawi represents the insidious forces that we are fighting in the War on Terror. This is a critical example of why we must stay the course and finish this mission.'

Rep. John Sweeney (R), 10/18/06 : 'I think that the strategy of 'staying the course' is not a strategy at all. It doesn't work. There are going to have to be adjustments in any war if that is the case..."

Here are some suggestions for how a Democratic Congress can enforce this now-broken agreement. First, in keeping with the Republican practice of re-naming everything they don't like (e.g. 'death tax' for 'estate tax'), I suggest that from now on Democrats refer to the Military Commissions law as the 'Surrender to Terrorists Act of 2006.'

Hammer the message home as often as you can -- this bill sold out the Constitution our brave soldiers have died to protect. Why? Because our Republican leaders know they aren't competent enough to defend our country and our freedoms at the same time..."

Thursday, October 19, 2006

"James Webb wears combat boots to honor his son who is serving in Iraq. A war he never believed was worth fighting. He told George Allen so, too. But when he wouldn't listen, Webb saddled up and got ready for the ride of his life, running against George Allen for Senate. Webb is finally getting the support he has earned.

We have a few things in common, the Irish and Scottish decent, as well as family members that have fought in wars.

I can relate to this: Over the course of his career, in books and more recently in screenplays, Webb, 60, has been writing about the dignity of his people -- the gun-loving, country-music-singing, working-class whites of Scotch-Irish descent who fight in wars, staff the nation's factories and shop its Wal-Marts. One caveat, we shop at CostCo, not Wal-Mart..."

Dick Cheney has exercised extra-constitutional duties ever since George W. Bush road in to D.C. All the president does is sit idly by and cheerlead the efforts to dismantle our democracy one law and inalienable right at a time.

Now, U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina has ordered the Secret Service to cough up the secrets. It's about time.

A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to release information about who visited Vice President Dick Cheney's office and personal residence, an order that could spark a late election season debate over lobbyists' White House access..."

State investigators are trying to track down the source of a mailer that recently went out to approximately 14,000 Democratic voters:

The letter, which purports to be from a Huntington Beach-based group, warns that immigrants will not be permitted to vote in the election. It also warns that the state has developed a tracking system that will allow the names of Latino voters to be handed over to anti-immigrant groups.

'You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time,' the letter, written in Spanish, says.

Investigators are focusing on Republican challenger Tan Nguyen, according to the Times. He's been running a distant second to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA). 35% of voters in the district are Latino..."

Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: "...But have the Christianists gotten nothing from this deal? Kuo's case is that not enough federal money was shoveled into their coffers. He was expecting an $8 billion bonanza - and got one percent of what Bush promised. But we also have the following set of facts: a party platform committed to criminalizing all abortions (including rape and incest) and banning legal same-sex unions by federal constitutional amendment; unprecedented federal and presidential intervention in the Terri Schiavo case; advancement of Christianist activist judges at all federal and many state levels; 39 states where same-sex unions are banned or gutted; the promotion of religion as science in the classroom; a federal ban on funding for stem cell research; restrictions on Plan B contraception; explicitly religious appeals by political leaders like Tom DeLay; a stepped-up federal war on state medical marijuana decisions; a concerted effort to withdraw Catholic communion from many Democratic politicians; and sectarian worship within the Armed Forces. Have Christianists overhauled the entire country? Of course not. Have they had unprecedented access to power and influence? Ask James Dobson and Jerry Falwell who gets to vet Supreme Court Justice nominees. Have the Christianists been bamboozled? To some extent, yes. But the radicalism of their agenda is self-limiting in a diverse, liberal society. There was simply no way that their cherished constitutional amendments could leap the hurdles the founders set for such drastic changes in one presidential term. But in the long term, the foundations have been laid - in organization, structure and policy. The shift in the judiciary is palpable - and would become far more permanent with another presidential term..."

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The Blog | John Kerry: Will You Fight With Them? | The Huffington Post: "...That's pretty damn fundamental in itself to who we are. But there's a human face behind it. The fight is intensely personal to me. Veterans are running for office all over our country. A lot of them got interested in politics as part of my campaign, and some got involved in Wes Clark's race. Some of us had disagreements for thirty five years -- like me and Jim Webb, we didn't see eye to eye over the war we fought in. But no matter where we came from, something much bigger now brings us together -- we're all a band of brothers now. When I got off the phone with Patrick Murphy after the chickenshit attacks on his military record, something felt awfully familiar and it got me pissed off. I care about these men and women. They've got guts and they've got brains and they've got heart and I'm telling you they will change the character of this pathetic Congress, and I'm boiling mad watching people who didn't serve attack those who did because they can't win a debate on the merits..."

I haven't heard blunt language like this out of a national Democrat since-- well, like never. (Harry Truman was out of the picture when I became politically conscious.) Read this post. He is smoking.

Mike Rogers, who contributes to www.blogactive.com, said after two years of research that he was '100 percent solid' with his information, and that he had spoken with men who had been sex partners with Craig.

The accusations, which were based on anonymous sources, were met with scorn and immediate denial by Craig spokesman Sid Smith in Boise.

'Mr. Rogers' claims are completely ridiculous and not based in fact,' Smith said. 'They're just ridiculous.'

Rogers made his claims on 'The Ed Schultz Show,' a liberal talk show that is not broadcast in the Treasure Valley but that can be heard online.

Rogers has made it his niche in the gay activist realm to 'out' conservative Republicans who, like Craig, have voted against gay rights issues. In June, Craig voted to approve a Constitutional ban on gay marriage. He is married to the former Suzanne Thompson. They have three children..."

Is it much ado about nothing or the beginning of the end of another career?

Researchers have shown that a synthetic drug similar to cannabis can help older rats perform better on a spatial memory task.

Over a period of three weeks, Gary Wenk at Ohio State University in Columbus, US, and colleagues injected the brains of young and old rats with an inflammatory molecule that created an immune response in the animals’ brains which mimics that seen in Alzheimer’s patients..."

"...To help this along, I have a persuasion tip for the Democrats. You need an Assisted-Voter-On-The-Threshold Program for those considering a change. Many Republicans, Independents and Democrats who believed the lies are now experiencing cognitive dissonance - a discomfort with their previous choices. They're standing on the threshold of change and need a hand across. Help them understand why they voted as they did last time, how many people like them were duped, and what they can say to people who criticize their new way of thinking. Otherwise, they're going to slip back into their comfort zones or not show up at all.

They need to hear from people like themselves who are deciding not to be lemmings. A good start -- people who love their country and would go to war in a heartbeat if the cause was just and the reasons honest, who are religious but don't want their love of God used to feed voracious corporate greed, who are sick of lobbyists silencing their voices to commandeer Senate and Congressional votes, pretense covering perversions in their own Capitol, and deprivation of the majority to feather the nests of the insatiable.

Change is difficult. A clear platform from the Democrats won't provide it. The world is too complex. But a moral political compass will. No more public relations sophistry of the types exposed in detail by Frank Rich in his new book. No more hijacking of our values for self-serving ends. Let's be stirred like we were by JFK, not by promising specific actions on problems we've yet to identify or completely understand, but by promising to represent Americans instead of resenting them.

Help people see that they were far from alone in not knowing they'd been deceived. Introduce us on television and radio to people who changed their minds, voters who are not putting the same people back in power and who are tough enough to take the heat for making a change, for learning, and for following their minds rather than the pack."

Folks, it does not help the cause of progress to call those people who are thinking about switching various kinds of insulting names, which is what some so-called progressive bloggers love to do. Getting caught-up in your own snark, completely immersed in your own breathless prose is one sure way to lose sight of the target: victory. Every person counts in this fight, be they short, bald, fat, veteran or Southerner. Don't push them the other way.

With the congressional elections less than a month away, Americans' attitudes toward Congress and their overall satisfaction with the state of the nation continue to be quite sour. Only 23% of Americans say they approve of the way Congress is handling its job, and 30% say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country at the present time. Both figures are on the low end of what Gallup has measured historically."

Cheney acknowledged there is a “natural level of concern out there” because fighting didn’t end “instantaneously.” (Next month, the war will have lasted longer than U.S. fighting in World War II.) Cheney then pointed to various news items to paint a positive picture of conditions in Iraq and concluded, “If you look at the general overall situation, they’re doing remarkably well...”"

Media Matters - O'Reilly falsely claimed that a pregnant woman's life could "never" be "in danger" from pregnancy complication: "On the October 11 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that it 'is never the case' that a 'mother's life is in danger' during the course of a pregnancy. In fact, there are several potential pregnancy complications that can threaten the life of a pregnant woman. For instance, an ectopic pregnancy, which the Mayo Clinic estimates occurs in '[a]bout one in every 40 to 100 pregnancies,' is a condition in which the zygote, a fertilized egg, attaches itself outside of the uterus and 'may destroy important maternal structures' with the potential to cause 'life-threatening blood loss.' According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ectopic pregnancies 'are the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the first trimester.' Additionally, other potential pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia, which can cause HELLP syndrome and eclampsia, can also threaten the life of a pregnant woman..."

It may have taken 40 years, but the U.S. Air Force finally has developed what the crew of the Starship Enterprise had in their arsenal decades ago: a working stun gun. The Personal Halting and Stimulation Response, or PHaSR, stops people in their tracks when they fall down laughing at the name…. Check that. I mean when they get blasted by a dazzling nonlethal laser beam, creating an effect similar to walking out from a dark movie theater into the bright sunshine. The idea is that you could use the PHaSR for controlling hostile crowds or for perimeter defense at checkpoints, etc. I'm thinking out loud here, but wouldn't a nice pair of Ray Bans or Oakleys be an effective countermeasure? And who knows the havoc you could wreak with a pair of mirror shades.— Michael Trei

Monday, October 16, 2006

Sci-Tech Today: "Apple CEO Steve Jobs dismissed Microsoft's upcoming Zune digital media device as a threat to iPod in an interview with Newsweek published Sunday. Asked if he was worried about Zune, Jobs replied, 'In a word, no...'"

...and who sits on Disney's Board? And who pushed the phony 9-11 docucrapfest? I remember you, Jobs. No Nano for me. Maybe I'll ditch my Mini and go Microsoft. Which arm of the Empire is less evil? Hmmmm...

"...The North Korean regime's obsession with racial purity has led to the killing of disabled infants and forced abortions for women suspected of conceiving their babies by Chinese fathers, according to a growing body of testimony from defectors.

The latest description of Kim Jong-il's policy of state eugenics came from a North Korean doctor, Ri Kwang-chol, who escaped last year and told a forum in Seoul that babies with deformities were killed soon after birth.

'There are no people with physical defects in North Korea,' Ri said. Such babies were put to death by medical staff and buried quickly, he claimed. He denied ever committing the act himself..."

"Science: If they agree with scientific studies, they embrace them. If they don't agree, or their big-business contributors don't like the findings, they dismiss and/or suppress such findings. Like Big Tobacco before them, the GOP fights back with their own 'science,' which, remarkably, produces results that support the political/social/religious beliefs of their conservative base. Global warming, the Morning After pill, stem cell research, evolution - all highly suspect as far as the GOP base - and their science-for-hire researchers -- are concerned. (If the Vatican had hired it's own astronomers rather than just jailing Galileo, we might still be teaching that the sun and all the planets orbit the earth...)"

Police issued a statement Sunday announcing that authorities have asked Attorney General Menahem Mazuz to charge Israeli President Moshe Katsav with rape, indecent assault and sexual harassment of an undisclosed number of women."

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Fight Back, Bill Clinton! Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow! - The Smirking Chimp: "His charisma is legendary. William Jefferson Clinton. America's boyishly brilliant bad boy President. Not since the days of Kennedy and the era of Camelot had America produced so globally enchanting a man. His Presidency charmed the world. And though his charm eluded half his own nation, beyond its boundaries he engaged the whole world.

Bill Clinton's story is more uplifting than those of his dynastic blue-blood predecessor and successor. Their achievements were spawned more from lineage than from labor, more from inheritance than from intelligence. One can only imagine the world's bemusement when Clinton, the gifted orator, was succeeded by W., the pathetic bumbler. How ridiculous we Americans must have seemed in January 2001, to have 'selected' so buffoonish a fool.

The differences between Clinton and Bush are palpable. What stark contrast the outside world perceived. Smart to dumb. Clever to clumsy. Open to closed. Canny to cocky. Bill Clinton epitomized rags to riches America. His life gave hope to boys and girls of humble means with giant dreams. Their mantra, 'If Clinton could do it, so could I' became a dominant theme..."

DES MOINES, Iowa - Former PresidentBill Clinton said Saturday that voters 'know something is wrong' in Washington and urged Democrats to create change in the November elections.

'I have never seen the American people so serious,' said Clinton. 'I think I know why. People know things are out of whack. The rhythm of our public life and our common life in America has been disturbed...'"

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

"New Report Shows Taylor's Earmarks Benefit Land he Owns. According to a new report by the Wall Street Journal, Charles Taylor, a wealthy businessman and banker, was able to get millions of dollars in earmarks for his district to improve land where Taylor owns thousands of acres and where he has even developed. The report shows that Taylor owns at least 14,000 acres of prime land in his district, some of which is near the main highway in Maggie Valley which, last year, received $11.4 million in federal dollars. Taylor's companies own thousands of acres near the highway and had already developed a subdivision called Maggie Valley Leisure Estates. Another earmark last year sent $4.8 million to widen a highway through timber tracts that Taylor's companies own. He also got millions for a loan for long-time contributors and millions more for improvements to a park that sits directly in front of his flagship bank in the district..."

by Chris Bowers, Wed Oct 11, 2006 at 01:34:08 AM ESTAs a follow-up to my post Progressive Majority Rising, it needs to be made clear that Republicans have not blown this election through a series of mistakes. They simply have not done that. Their fundraising is as good as ever. Their ads are as good as ever. Their talking points are as good as ever, as is their message discipline. The machine is as far-reaching and well-oiled as it ever was, if not even better. Republicans are not making mistakes in this election. Even the big problems that have pushed Republican chances so low--Iraq, Social Security, Terry Schaivo, Katrina, and now Foley--are not Republican 'mistakes' as such. They are instead, inherent to Republican governance now that the modern conservative movement has taken over the Republican Party and are finally being exposed by a more capable progressive opposition..."

Aaaahhhhhhhhh, did I miss something here? Bush, the man who 'discovered' billions that was non existent to fight his war of ego and convenience in Iraq, is telling people that it is the Democrats who are wild spenders? After six years of running roughshod over the budget and unloading billions onto future generations, this guy has the nerve to stand up in front of a crowd and complain about the spending of anyone else. If the GOP is looking for yet another example of why Americans believe that they are out of touch with reality, here it is.

Earth to planet George: you spend like a drunken sailor and we all know it. Time to come out of your bubble or fantasy world or wherever the hell it is that you are living. Please tell me how borrowing against the future and dumping a higher burden on the middle class, while cutting taxes for the wealthiest and giving corporate welfare is good for the total population? I see how is helps the Dick Cheney's and Bush family but most Americans are failing to see how it specifically helps them. Why does George Bush hate the American middle class?"

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: "...The bomb that went off yesterday was made with plutonium, the same stuff that was off-limits from 1994-2002. In all likelihood some of the same stuff that was on ice from 1994-2002.

To the best of my knowledge, no one thinks the North Koreans are close to having enough uranium to make a nuclear weapon that way. And it's not even completely clear they were ever trying to enrich uranium.

So Clinton strikes a deal to keep plutonium out of the North Koreans' hands. The deal keeps the plutonium out of reach for the last six years of Clinton's term and the first two of Bush's. Bush pulls out of the deal. Four years later a plutonium bomb explodes.

TPMmuckraker October 11, 2006 08:37 AM: "Sources Deny 'October Surprise' Theory'Two of the news media's sources of Mark Foley's sexually explicit instant messages to former House pages said this week that they came forward to expose the Florida congressman's actions, not to help the Democrats in the midterm elections....

'One of ABC News's sources, a former page, said he went public with his knowledge of the instant messages on Sept. 29 only after the network, the day before, published the questionable e-mails that Foley had sent to the Louisiana boy. The former page and current college student stressed that he is a 'staunch Republican' who 'wouldn't vote for a Democrat ever.' He also said that he is not calling for the resignation of Hastert or any other Republican leader...."

Much has been made of the cynical manipulation of the evangelical movement; perhaps most succinctly by Tucker Carlson on the Chris Mathews show, who talks of the contempt that conservative republicans have for the religious right, and how the 'base' is beginning to figure this out. This reminds me of 2000, when many on the left begin to figure out that the Democratic Party had largely abandoned them in favor of corporate interests, and millions voted for Nader.

Being part of the base often means you feel as though you have nowhere to go, except to not participate, or to vote for protest candidates..."

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

If this was a sceince fiction movie this is about the time the protagonists would start getting freaked out by the rainbow-colored perma-smiling relentlessly-cheerful colony from the West seeping inexorably across the nation gobbling everything in its path, growing, growing, growing. Well, this is all too real — ALL TOO REAL — so we'd better get used to the fact that Google owns us, utterly. Today they confirmed the rumor swirling in the blogosphere, from LonelyGirl15 to all those dudes now wearing A:F6 shirts (402 and counting): Google has indeed purchased YouTube, for the whopping sum of $1.65 billion dollars — yes, we did say billion..."

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006 the Average Annual Wages across the United States in 2003 was $37,765. 28 out of 31 Conservative States had a lower than average rate of Annual Wages (90% of Conservative States) versus 8 out of 20 Liberal States that had a lower than average rate of Annual Wages (40% of Liberal States). The highest rate of Annual Wages in the country is found in the District of Columbia with $60,417. The lowest rate of Annual Wages in the country is found in Montana with $26,907."

State of the Day: Henry Redux: "...As for the Great Decider his resolute response to all the gloom and doom is to deny its existence and proclaim much progress in the midst of all his hard work. Those who do not share his vision, whether Democrats or the majority of citizens who disagree with him, are denounced one and the same as terrorists or those who would coddle terrorists. This at the same time as a Congress full of Democrats and a citizenry hand to him the charred remains of the American Constitution.

Thus, from the President's own assault on American freedoms and civil liberties, to Iraq's inferno extending the flames of hatred and extremism across the Muslim and Arab worlds, do the dominos of democracy advance not forward but avalanche backward, stripped bare of all democracy as they topple on the doorsteps of America.

Of all the wars the Decider is waging, real and imagined, domestically and abroad, his only successes come at home. His only victories against the Constitution of the United States and the people of America."

NewsHog: North Korea's October Surprise: "...Given the fast and glib spin which is appearing as if it had been carefully written ages ago, I have to ask. Is this the 'October Surprise' that Rove promised the GOP when he told them all they should run on national security despite the debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan? If so, how long ago did the administration know this was coming and exactly what did they do to head it off, knowing that it was a disaster for world stability but a gift-horse for re-election races?"

"# ...Veterans faced real challenges with equipment and supplies while in Iraq or Afghanistan.# Nearly half of all veterans (42 percent) reported that their equipment did not meet the military standard that requires a unit to be at least 90 percent operational.# Later deployments reported improvements in operational equipment: only 52 and 49 percent of veterans serving in 2003 and 2004 respectively reported their equipment was operational compared to 61 percent of those who served in 2005 and later.# Thirty-five percent of veterans said their trucks were not up-armored at all and 10 percent said the trucks were up-armored with scrap metal# One-fifth of veterans have been impacted by stop-loss regulations or extensions and the majority believes the Army and Marine Corps are overextended..."

Because cutting corners always works so well in the Don Rumsfeld Pentagon?According to statistics obtained by The Associated Press, 3.8 percent of the first-time recruits scored below certain aptitude levels. In previous years, the Army had allowed only 2 percent of its recruits to have low aptitude scores. That limit was increased last year to 4 percent, the maximum allowed by the Defense Department."

Poll Shows Strong Shift Of Support to Democrats - washingtonpost.com: "...Approval of Congress has plunged to its lowest level in more than a decade (32 percent), and Americans, by a margin of 54 percent to 35 percent, say they trust Democrats more than Republicans to deal with the biggest problems the nation is confronting. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said congressional Democrats deserve to be reelected next month, but just 39 percent said Republicans deserve to return to office..."

Monday, October 09, 2006

A moment of clarity « The Opinion Mill: "...There is no longer any excuse for continuing to buy into these lies, these sordid power grabs, these wormy strategies for wresting political advantage from death and tragedy. The blood of thousands of Americans killed on 9/11 goes unavenged, the lives of many more thousands of Americans and Iraqis cry out for justice, the very foundations of our government tremble as these sleaze weasels and their media lickspittles work around the clock to destroy everything that is good and noble about this country.

And yet there are still people willing to support them? I ask those people: Is it so important to you that gays not be allowed to get married? Do you really lie awake at night worrying that Paris Hilton and Steve Forbes might have to pay their fair share in taxes? How does it feel to know that you can be bought this cheaply, to know that you will play along with such transparent lies in order to . . . in order to . . . what? What are you getting out of this? Is your soul so rotten with hatred for liberals that you would prefer to see the car get driven off a cliff before a Democrat can take the wheel?..."

"...Harry Truman was not only brave, he held duty to country far beyond personal fiefdom and fealty. Who could serve the nation best -- that was his consistent requirement for appointments.In their brilliant and now all too timely book 'The Wise Men', Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas quote Paul Nitze, one of the authors of the Marshall Plan and director of the State Department's policy planning staff: 'I have never seen such a panoply of first-class people who have never thought of putting their interests before the nation's.' These people included such luminaries as John J. McCloy, Averill Harriman, Dean Acheson, George Kennan, Charles Bohlen, Robert Lovett, and Nitze himself. Not to mention the extraordinary likes of George C. Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, and General Lucius Clay. Their combined wisdom brought honor to America with their vision to rebuild Europe and Japan, to bring order to the chaos of a post war world, and to create an effective bulwark against the then Stalinist menace..."

1. The Democratic leadership expressed its outrage over his behavior. They did not knowingly protect him while he was doing it. Their sense of betrayal should have been a model for the Republicans to follow in this case. Their absence of outrage tells us all we need to know about their party's moral depravity.

2. Monica Lewinsky was an adult - and, by all accounts, sought out the attention she received. Mark Foley forced himself on the young people entrusted to the care of the House of Representatives.

Torture, violation of the Constitution, lies to start a war, widespread financial corruption ... but it took these actions, protecting a predator, to capture the zeitgeist. It encapsulates today's GOP in the blinding light of a single moment, like a lightning flash that reveals the stalker who's been standing outside your door..."

And we thought Clinton had no self-control - Joe Scarborough: "When The Washington Monthly reached me at my office recently, a voice on the other side of the line meekly asked if I would ever consider writing an article supporting the radical proposition that Republicans should get their brains beaten in this fall.

“Count me in!” was my chipper response. I also seem to remember muttering something about preferring an assortment of Bourbon Street hookers running the Southern Baptist Convention to having this lot of Republicans controlling America’s checkbook for the next two years.

Maybe that’s because right-wing, knuckle-dragging Republicans like myself took over Congress in 1994 promising to balance the budget and limit Washington’s power. We were a nasty breed and had no problem blaming Bill and Hillary Clinton for everything from the exploding federal deficit to male pattern baldness. I suspected then, as I do now, that Hillary Clinton herself had something to do with “Love, American Style” and “Joanie Loves Chachi.” And why not blame her? Back then, Newt Gingrich felt comfortable blaming the drowning of two little children on Democratic values. Hell. It was 1994. It just seemed like the thing to do..."

Becoming Fearless | Arianna Huffington: FDR and Fearlessness: How the Personal Became the Political | The Huffington Post: "...And because fearlessness, like fear itself, is contagious, FDR's conviction that he and his fellow Americans could handle whatever challenges came their way ended up infecting -- and buoying -- the entire country. The Great Depression and WW II were certainly legitimate causes of fear, but Roosevelt's mastery of his fear helped inspire millions to do the same. Just imagine how differently the current occupant of the White House would have dealt with these monumental crises -- using them to stifle dissent, gain political and partisan advantage, smear critics, and browbeat a nation into compliance.

Instead of assuring us 'the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,' W would have told us the only way out of the Depression is to waterboard the Constitution, put Lady Liberty in a 'stress position,' and attach electrodes to the private parts of the Bill of Rights.

The paraphrase FDR, the only things we have to fear are fear itself -- and those who use it for their own shameful purposes."

"Somehow Foleygate as morphed into 'What did Nancy Pelosi know and when did she know it.' Oh no, Republicans, this one is yours. Deal with it. The media looooves a good sex scandal. At least the Democrats didn't spend $43 million on a witch hunt. But then again, that would be better than the massive pissing away of money for the clusterfuck that is bush's folly in Iraq.

What's under the radar is that our troops are being wounded in record levels. Last month 776 troops were wounded in action.

Some experts believe the number of wounded provides a better insight to the nature of the conflict in Iraq than the figure of 2,700 killed because - in relation to previous wars - many more wounded troops survive.

The ratio of wounded to killed is 8 to 1, compared with 3 to 1 during the Vietnam War. The Independent

Now the forces are fighting the Sadr militia again in southern Iraq at Diwaniya. Um, these guys won't die and go away. Oh wait, another report says that they might not be the Mehdi Army. Meanwhile hundreds of Iraqi police got sick from food poisoning coincidentally in southern Iraq and are unable to assist troops. Keep your fingers crossed for our troops who are being put in harms way big time this coming week."

Best comeback: “Who raised you? I was raised by a black lady who taught me Jesus Christ was color blind.” Friedman’s response to Slater, who asked about accusations that Friedman has made racist comments about blacks."

The tragic school shootings in Amish country have sent us a reminder I hope everyone is feeling. No, I’m not talking exactly about the horrific murders of these children, though we all have taken that insecurity and terror to heart.I am talking about the way real Christians act. The Amish have set an example of dignity, humility, and forgiveness that few of us will ever be able to achieve. They have given us a light of Christian love in the swirling, oppressive darkness of contemporary conservative Christian thought and action.

If this had happened in some church academies, we would have been treated to an endless spectacle of sermonizing pastors screaming for the flesh of gays, pedophiles, and Democrats, who, of course, would have been at fault. Fox News would be running on-going stories about how if Republicans had more power in Washington and Pennsylvania none of this would have happened, and various Republicans senators and such would have raised a veritable thunder of righteous rage and called the lightning bolts ofmoralistic certitude upon those who don’t see it their way.

But that didn’t happen. I have heard no calls for any sort of retribution from any member of the Amish community. Now, they have become more much to all of us than post cards, tourist attractions, and an admired, if misunderstood, minority among the kaleidoscopic and cacophonous din arising from the religious communities around the country.

So once again, we are truly confronted with the Mystery of Faith, believing that God has purposed our lives and that purpose is cloaked in His Mystery, leaving us only with the uncomfortable cliché that God Moves In Mysterious Ways.But here it is, perhaps, not so mysterious, since I suspect that, like me, millions have people have their hearts stirred and their souls uplifted by the simple example of love shining from a beacon of the true meaning of the life of Jesus Christ emanating from the deep sorrows of the friends, neighbors, families and victims of this most despicable crime.